Pure Beeswax Pillar, square

Pure Beeswax Pillar, square

To avoid tunneling, burn these square pillars at least 3 hours. Trim the wick to ¼” before every lighting, and light from the base of the wick rather than the tip.

Pillars require a bit of a care to achieve a long lasting candle with maximum burn time.

For the initial lighting, it is important to establish a burn pool that extends to within ¼” – ½” of the candle wall, typically 1 hour per inch diameter (3 hours for a 3” diameter). Burning the pillar only a short time causes the candle to “tunnel,” never burning quite right after that, and potentially leaving you with a large amount of unused wax.

Another good practice is to mold the warm candle walls inward, so they will melt into the wax pool, providing even more fuel for the wick. Some candle enthusiasts prefer to allow the candle to do it’s own thing. Just be cautious not to allow the walls to become so high that they act like a chimney, which will starve the wick of oxygen, and possibly create smoking.

Extinguish the candle by dunking the wick into the wax pool, or use a tool to drip beeswax onto the burning wick. Straightening the wick after extinguishing makes it easier to relight.